A Rage to Live (1965)

That was an excellent one.

An Exercise In Nonsense

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Well acted soap opera about how a wealthy young woman's nymphomania negatively impacts her life and the lives of people around her. Not that it doesn't take two to tango. However, she has a way of attracting men with no self control or moral fiber. Lovely Suzanne Pleshette is excellent in the role of the promiscuous woman. Ben Gazzara is also notable for his disturbingly slimy role. There's not much of a storyline; she has no control of her sexual compulsions throughout her life and does nothing about it despite the counsel of her family and friends. There aren't many likable characters in this movie making the movie itself hard to like. Not really my kind of movie but it's okay for this genre.

A rather sordid topic is given a mostly tasteful, if daring for its time, treatment in this adaptation of a John O'Hara novel. Pleshette plays a young girl who, whether purposeful or not, attracts men to her like bees to honey and decides it's something she likes. Her post adolescence is spent canoodling with boys in the backseats of cars or on family room sofas, much to the concern of her faint-hearted mother Matthews. She starts to skirt scandal when boy-toy Goddard's mother Somers catches them making out, but is redeemed by the love of optimistic and caring college man Dillman. After a rough start, they make a go of things until a) hirsute engineer Gazzara sets his sights on her and b) dignified, but badly-married Graves starts to fancy her as well. Plenty of complications ensue until the melodramatic and ironic ending comes about. Pleshette, while preposterous as a high school student in the early sequences, gives a passionate and sensitive performance, achieving the near impossible which is eliciting sympathy for a reckless nymphomaniac. She looks terrific in her (Oscar-nominated) Howard Shoup gowns and the black and white cinematography loves her eyes. She deftly portrays the sensational fact that her character has a sexual disorder and finds it hard to resist the liaisons. Dillman is also very good, aptly conveying the sensitive and disgusted colors of his role. His hair is lighter than usual (perhaps to contrast with the raven-tressed leading lady?) Gazzara is convincingly obsessive and brutish, not to mention seductive. Graves hasn't got a whole lot to do and doesn't do a whole lot with it. He would soon move on to the career-defining role of Mr. Phelps on "Mission: Impossible." Leslie, as his wife, exhibits unexpected levels of despair, though she comes more than close to unintentional comedy at times. Matthews (who, coincidentally, played Dina Merrill's mom in the film of O'Hara's "BUtterfield 8") is appropriately weary and worried. Gregory pops up as the family doctor, dispensing some interesting and amusing advice when it comes to teen love. Goddard is adorably sniveling. Like Graves, he too would soon be performing his most iconic role on TV's "Lost in Space." Furth, a Broadway fixture, has a small role as Dillman's pal. Christine, as Matthews' maid, was the well-known Folger's coffee spokeswoman in the 70's and Somers, of course, became a staple panelist on "Match Game" several years after this. One can't help feeling that this is a cousin to the earlier "BUtterfield 8", but it's different enough to retain its own level of interest. If this had been filmed in color, it may be better known than it is as many black and white films fell out of favor when it came to TV airings as color TV became prominent in the late 60's. However, the already dicey subject matter may have come across as lurid (by the day's standards) in color. The opening credits feature a striking instrumental title number by Ferrante & Teicher as the names are displayed amongst various rural settings (politely placing the black print against white items like barns or covered bridges or sky, etc…) It's no earth-shaking piece of cinema, but it's interesting for its period approach to sex and captivating thanks to its name cast and the stalwart performance of its leading actress.

This story starts off with a young girl named Grace Caldwell Tate, (Suzanne Pleshette) who is attacked and forcefully raped and does not report the matter but assumes this is a normal procedure between a girl and boy. Grace begins to have other encounters with men and causes all kinds of problems in her home and mostly her mother and brother. Jack Hollister, (Peter Graves) married Grace and they have a little boy and Grace continues to have an affair with Roger Bannon, (Ben Gazzara) and this film continues to go on with Grace never able to say a simple word like "NO", and leave "Me Alone". This is a mental sickness that can be corrected, but the person involved suffers horrible consequences. Great acting by Suzanne Pleshette and the entire cast. This is a very sad story and these type of people need help.

Suzanne Pleshette, who recently died, gave a truly memorable performance in this 1965 film. To say that promiscuity is her problem is to put it mildly.From high school to her married years, she as an attraction for other men that will ultimately lead to her downfall as well as others.Her mother can't take it so she proceeds to drop dead during a vacation with her daughter. Her new former lover, Ben Gazzara, can't take being thrown over. In a drunken rage, he beats up a woman he meets at a hotel only to be killed in a wild chase scene with police.It appears that Pleshette finally finds happiness with husband Bradford Dillman. They have a beautiful son before she takes up with Gazzara.Peter Graves is also effective as an earlier lover with an insanely jealous wife. Though Graves never carried on with Pleshette while she was married, the wife can't be convinced of this.The fault with this film lies at the end. We are left up in the air once Dillman is led to believe that she has carried on with Graves. His running out in a rage is not reconciled. Can Pleshette try to pull a Scarlett O'Hara and try to get him back?